Comments Document

I am writing to Complain about the assignments of mostly Republicans being assigned to the House of Delegate Public Safety Sub-Committee #1 and #2 for 2024 General Assembly session. The committee assignments were posted VERY late this year of which I do not find helpful to citizens. When I tried to sign up tonight around 11pm after getting off work to be able to speak about this topic via zoom at the January 12th 2024 7:30am Main Public Safety Committee, it said it was closed. The rules say it is OPEN until 12 midnight for citizens to sign up. So already this seems to be a way to BLOCK citizens to complain via zoom, and the topic I am being educated on by other Fauquier County citizens is how speed ticket camera's are being blocked thru the majority of committee members assigned to the HOD public safety committee members are Republicans, and only x1 Democrat on each of them. I find this dangerous to my personal road safety health and children who ride the school buses on Route 17 in Fauquier County that share the road with millions of speeding cars and truckers. I have been showed the VDOT data and given a copy of how bad the problem is and attaching it with this comments so you all see how bad it is. I hope you take this problem seriously, as I am also contacting other parties involved at Richmond. Camera technology is vital for where our police forces cannot get this speeding under any serious control, and I have attended many public meetings in Fauquier on this topic. Excuses are heard constantly by our leaders and police forces and they say they are doing their best. That BEST is NOT good enough anymore. Technology can assist them in the form of speed ticket camera's. We are NOT in the 1980s or past anymore and the internet with camera's has made public safety road enforcement a much better option to use now. I was educated about the enormous growth of the Ports of Virginia to now handle the largest cargo ships, which has led to tractor trailer drivers using Rte 17 to bypass I-81 has a route to Reach the Front Royal Inland Marine Port by only 20 minutes more quickly. Rte 17 appears to have NO weigh stations, and police enforcement pulling over truckers is very little and they are VERY dangerous with texting and driving. In 2017 a propane trucker flipped over between Marshall to Warrenton, and many other truckers have flipped over and killed or injured other people. The car accidents are also just as bad. My neighbors daughter rides horses and they use Route 17 to get to various eventing centers and they tell me how dangerous it is to haul a slow moving horse trailer on Rte 17 to exit or enter it with so much speeding and how poorly the road is designed with large hills, blind curves and S-curves. VDOT never helps us out in any serious way, but puts minor things in place or proposes ideas to the public that many other citizens said at a recent 2022 meeting would be "SUICIDE" to allow VDOT to put in a R-turn without reducing the speed limit. We need help! STOP playing with our children's and adult lives to protect the tractor trailer industry and ports of Virginia over the rest of Virginia's public safety thru speed ticket camera's to assist police. I think if one of your family members got into a bad crash on a road due to a speeder you would change your mind to allow these devices to be allowed on the worst speeding roads in Virginia. Wake UP please. See file attached which as good easy data to review for Rte 17.

I am writing you out of GRAVE concern for the games and tactics being played at Virginia General Assembly in House of Delegates to block sensible bills for advanced modern technology devices like Photo Enforcement Camera's from being passed into law past the current school and work zones. These devices are PROVEN per plenty of data to work VERY well to get speeding reduced and under control much more quickly than police forces could ever do per my experience of living in Fauquier County for 23 years. Route 17 has become a major trade route cut thru for the tractor trailer industry to speed and harass smaller vehicles to drive faster than the posted 55mph speed limit. There goals is to MAKE as MUCH MONEY to deliver cargo from the ports of Virginia to the Inland Marine port in Front Royal Virginia off of I-66, with no regard for endangering our lives against TONS of metal and power and explosive cargo's they can be carrying. The automobile drivers that are weekly commuters are driving WAY to fast also. The data I have reviewed from citizens collecting VDOT counter, speed and lack of police speed citations issued is appauling. Public road and traffic Safety is a BASIC priority of society, and due to GREED and insider deals it is blocking good sensible bills like speed ticket camera's. THEY WORK VERY WELL already seen in just the Virginia School zones with plenty of data and news articles. Police have plenty of other roads they can then get the speeding under control where the speed camera's can focus on the worst like Rte 17 in Fauquier County as JUST one location. VDOT designed Rte 17 poorly so it is DANGEROUS for police to enforce due to the majority having NO safe wide enough shoulders that tractor trailers need to pull over safely. When crashes occur, the traffic builds up quick and emergency vehicles CANNOT get to the scenes quickly because VDOT failed to make shoulders to allow vehicles to get out of the way. This is primarily Rte 17 Marshall to Warrenton (8.5) miles that has this problem, and VDOT Daniel (Mark) Nesbit has ignored it heavily since 2004 from many citizens emails, in person complaints and meetings with Board of Supervisors and police. NOW these tactics continue at the HOD Public Safety Committee where this year's 2024 Subcommittee #1 and #2 have assigned x5 Republicans with only x1 Democrat. I have been educated by other citizens how the trend is Republicans primarily VOTE NO for speed ticket camera bills at these sub-committees or laid on the table as a nice way to DO NOTHING. Our lives are at serious stake with speeding, deaths and crashes worse than ever in Virginia History per plenty of data. I watched the video of Secretary of Transportation Sheppard Miller at General Assembly 2023 address the Senate Transportation Committee where he said speeding, deaths and crashes on Virginia roads is worse than ever and public safety is a PRIORITY. The Delegates I have been told who assigned these Public Safety subcommittee members looks like they purposely put more republicans on them then every before for this 2024 session. I think you should re-word this Committee to the DEATH SQUAD Committee because that is what is really happening when you block sensible smart technology bills. Police cannot handle all the speeding and they tell citizens this in Fauquier County. COVID is back again. Police can get sick. Speed Camera's DO NOT get sick. They do the job 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and very good at it.

Comments Document

I am complaining regarding the majority of committee members assigned to the Public Safety Subcommittee #1 _ #2 for 2024 Virginia General Assembly session being primarily Republicans. On Subcommittee #1 there are x5 Republicans and x1 Democrat. On Subcommittee #2 there are x4 Republicans and x1 Democrat. I raise this concern because I have seen x7 bills for Speed Ticket Camera submitted. It has been my experience of attending in person 2023 HOD Public Safety Subcommittee where a speed ticket camera bill was voted down due to Republican votes. This is a KNOWN trend in both the Senate and HOD for voting down Speed Ticket Camera bills by Republicans. These x2 HOD Public Safety Subcommittee's are where these type bills are reviewed 1st and voted on, and if they are voted NAY/NO by majority of Republicans then they are DEAD bills. These devices are gravely needed to assist our overburdened Police forces to get the out of control speeding under more serious control that lead to serious long lasting injuries and deaths that impact family lives more than I can express to this main HOD Public Safety Committee. This to me is yet another PURPOSELY RIGGED tactic to block speed ticket camera technology from being allowed for use past school and works zones in Virginia. I wrote a email on December 12th 2023 to Richmond Virginia General Assembly House of Delegate Minority Leader Don Scott and Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert regarding this topic since I was told they set the assignments for HOD committee's, and this disproportionate of Republicans over Democrat assignments that are BLOCKING much NEEDED Public Safety Bills. I have seen this also on the Senate side from tracking these type bills. When attending in 2023 for the Public Safety Sub Committee Speed Ticket Camera Bill to be reviewed and voted on 01.26.2023 I had to bring to the the attention of the deplorable scenario I experienced with Delegate Michael Webert (My Fauquier County Delegate) lying to me why he did NOT cast a vote and he blamed it on computer tablet malfunction, and then when I asked him if he reported it to Chair woman Batten or others sitting in the room with him, he said he did. However he lied again as Chairwoman Batten said in front of both myself and Delegate Webert when she came walking by in the hallway that she heard NOTHING from Delegate Webert about that. I asked Delegate Batten twice and she again stated the same answer. Others in that room I also asked and both said No they heard nothing from Delegate Webert about tablet malfunction, or how he said his vote was a YES for speed ticket camera bill that day. I complained in person that same day to Clerk of the House G. Paul Nardo of which I have a full email correspondence recorded. In my STRONGEST opinion of being involved with Rte 17 traffic speeding calming measures to be implemented in Fauquier County since 2015 with previous Senator Jill Vogel of Fauquier County at several General Assembly sessions, and prior to 2004 and forward at the local Fauquier county levels of Government, these Speed Ticket Camera bills are blocked heavily due to the Ports of Virginia huge growth and tractor trailers using Rte 17 as a quicker less impeded route to reach the Inland Marine Port in Front Royal Virginia. Public Safety is being ignored heavily due to this. People are dying and injured. This 01.12.24 meeting was CLOSED earlier than the 12am deadline for citizen zoom speaking sign up. See Photo attached 1030pm 1.11.24